Compact keyboard

ABSTRACT

A compact keyboard characterized by a novel key arrangement allowing for an overall reduction in the width of the keyboard while retaining a full set of keys standard to a computer and including a numeric keypad. In the compact keyboard of the present invention, the Home and End keys are located on the row of function keys, while the Down, Left and Right arrow keys are nested under the lowermost row of the text entry and numeric keypad sections of the keyboard. This allows the Insert, Delete, Page Up and Page Down keys to be disposed in a single column as opposed to three columns in the keyboard of the prior art.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention

[0002] The present relates to a compact keyboard. In particular, thisinvention relates to a novel key layout allowing for a reduction in theoverall width of the keyboard.

[0003] 2. Description of the Related Art

[0004] A keyboard device for a computer includes a plurality ofAlpha-Numeric keys. A compact keyboard is desirable because it takes upless space on the user's desktop and requires less raw materials toproduce. On other hand, computers require a minimum set of keys to allowthe convenient operation of hardware and software. Furthermore, thekeyboard arrangement must reflect the needs of the user. For example,users who enter numerical data into a computer desire a numeric keypadwith numbers and mathematical symbols. In addition, the size ofindividual keys must meet the needs of the user. A “full-size” key isgenerally 1.8 cm in width at the base with a relatively smaller width atthe top to allow easy touch-typing.

[0005]FIG. 1 shows a keyboard of the prior art. The layout of thekeyboard is divided into four sections: text entry section 10,navigation section 20, numeric keypad section 30, and function keysection 40. Text entry section 10 comprises five rows of keys, whereinthe first row is composed mainly of numeric keys and punctuation keys,the second through fourth rows are comprised mainly of alphabetical andpunctuation keys, and the fifth row is comprised mainly of the spacebar. Tab, Caps Lock, Shift, Control, Alt, and Enter keys are generallydisposed on the left and right extremities of rows two through five. Onstandard keyboards, the alphabetical keys are arranged in the QWERTYpattern. Navigation section 20 includes an upper portion comprised oftwo rows of three navigation and editing keys, wherein the Insert,Delete, Home, End, Page Up, and Page Down keys are disposed in thisarea; and a lower portion comprising arrow keys for controlling themotion of the cursor, wherein the Up Arrow is disposed singly in a firstrow and the Left, Down and Right Arrow are disposed together in a secondrow. Numeric keypad section 30 includes five rows of numeric andmathematical symbol keys with a calculator like arrangement for easynumber entry. Function key section 40 comprises a row of function keysdisposed above text entry section 10, navigation section 20, and numerickeypad section 30. Function key section 40 may also include indicators45 for displaying whether Num Lock, Caps Lock or Scroll Lock areactivated.

[0006] The keyboard of the prior art is inefficient in terms of spaceusage. In particular, the navigation section 20 uses a large amount ofspace, increasing the width of the keyboard and adding cost to themanufacturing process.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0007] It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide acompact keyboard.

[0008] The compact keyboard of the present invention is characterized bya novel key arrangement in which the arrow keys are disposed in aninverted T arrangement with a first of the arrow keys on the top and theremaining three arrow keys on the bottom, wherein the first arrow key isdisposed in the lowermost row of the plurality of alpha-numeric keys andthe remaining the arrow keys are disposed below the lowermost row of theplurality of alpha-numeric keys. By putting the remaining three arrowkeys below the lowermost row of the plurality of alpha-numeric keys, thewidth of the keyboard can be reduced.

[0009] In a preferred embodiment of the invention, a compact keyboardcomprising a text entry section, a navigation section, a numeric keypadsection, a function key section, and an arrow key section is disclosed.The text entry section comprises an arrangement of keys including fiverows of alpha-numeric keys for the entry of text and numbers. Thenavigation section is disposed adjacent to and between the text entrysection and the numeric keypad section and comprises the Insert, Delete,Page Up, and Page Down keys disposed in a single column corresponding tothe rows one through four in the Text entry section. The numeric keypadsection is disposed adjacent to navigation section, and comprises fiverows of alpha-numeric keys for the entry of numbers. The function keysection comprises a row of function keys and the Home and End keys, andis disposed above the text entry section, navigation section, andnumeric keypad section. The function key section may also includeindicators for displaying whether Num Lock, Caps Lock or Scroll Lock areactivated. The arrow key section comprises the Up Arrow, Down Arrow,Left Arrow and Right Arrow keys disposed in an inverted T arrangementwith the Up Arrow key on the top and the Down Arrow, Left Arrow andRight Arrow keys on the bottom, wherein the Up Arrow key occupies thefifth row of the navigation section between the text entry section andthe numeric keypad section and the Down Arrow, Left Arrow and RightArrow keys are disposed in a sixth row below the lowermost rows of thetext entry section and the numeric keypad section. Preferably, the arrowkeys are reduced to three quarters the height of the other keys.

[0010] The advantage of this embodiment lies reducing the width of thenavigation section. This is achieved by moving the rarely used Home andEnd keys out of the centrally located navigation section and placingthem on the function key row, thereby allowing the Insert, Delete, PageUp, and Page Down keys to be arranged in a single column. The arrow keysare arranged such that the Up Arrow is at the bottom of said singlecolumn while the Left, Down and Right Arrow are disposed in a row belowthe lowermost rows of the text entry section and the numeric keypadsection. By reducing the height of the arrow keys to three quarters thatof the other keys, the additional height of the keyboard is minimal. Onthe other hand, when this novel arrangement is applied to a keyboardwith a standard set of keys of standard size, the width of the keyboardcan be reduced from 455 mm to 405 mm.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0011] The following detailed description, given by way of examples andnot intended to limit the invention to the embodiments described herein,will best be understood in conjunction with the accompanying drawings,in which:

[0012]FIG. 1 illustrates a keyboard of the prior art; and

[0013]FIG. 2 illustrates a compact keyboard of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0014] The compact keyboard of the present invention is characterized bya novel key arrangement allowing for an overall reduction in the widthof the keyboard while retaining a full set of keys standard to acomputer and including a numeric keypad.

[0015] Please refer to FIG. 2. A preferred embodiment of the compactkeyboard of the present invention includes a text entry section 100, anavigation section 200, a numeric keypad section 300, a function keysection 400, and an arrow key section 500.

[0016] Text entry section 100 comprises an arrangement of keys includingfive rows of alpha-numeric keys for the entry of text and numbers. Thekeys are preferably arranged in the standard QWERTY format, wherein thefirst row is composed mainly of numeric keys and punctuation keys, thesecond through fourth rows are comprised mainly of alphabetical andpunctuation keys, and the fifth row is comprised mainly of the space barand control keys. Tab, Caps Lock, Shift, Control, Alt, and Enter keysare disposed on the left and right extremities of rows two through five.

[0017] Navigation section 200 is disposed adjacent to text entry section100 and comprises the Insert, Delete, Page Up, and Page Down keysdisposed in a single column corresponding to the row one through four inthe text entry section. The particular order of the four keys in thissection is not limited. Preferably, however, the Page Up key is abovethe Page Down key and the Insert Key is above the Delete key.Furthermore, navigation section 200 is preferably set off from textentry section 100 and numeric key pad 300 by a small gap. This small gapallows users to visually and tactually differentiate navigation section200 from adjacent sections without significantly adding to the overallwidth of the keyboard. The small gap is preferably smaller than thewidth of a single key.

[0018] Numeric keypad section 300 is disposed adjacent to navigationsection 200, wherein navigation section 200 is between text entrysection 100 and numeric keypad section 300, and preferably comprisesfive rows of alpha-numeric keys for the entry of numbers.

[0019] Function key section 400 comprises a row of function keys and theHome and End keys, and is disposed above text entry section 10,navigation section 20, and numeric keypad section 30. The exactpositioning of the Home and End keys is not limited. Optionally, theheight of the keys in function key section 400 may be smaller than thatof other keys on the keyboard. For example, the keys may be threequarters the height of the other keys on the keyboard. This reduction insize of the function keys does not have a major impact of ease of typingfor users because function keys are not generally pressed usingtouch-typing. Function key section 400 may also include indicators 405for displaying whether Num Lock, Caps Lock or Scroll Lock are activated.

[0020] Arrow key section 500 comprises the Up Arrow, Down Arrow, LeftArrow and Right Arrow keys disposed in an inverted T arrangement withthe Up Arrow key on the top and the Down Arrow, Left Arrow and RightArrow keys on the bottom, wherein the Up Arrow key occupies the fifthrow of the navigation section 200 between the text entry section 100 andthe numeric keypad section 300 and the Down Arrow, Left Arrow and RightArrow keys are disposed in a sixth row below the lowermost rows of thetext entry section 100 and the numeric keypad section 300. The height ofthe arrow keys is preferably smaller than that of other keys on thekeyboard such that the overall height of keyboard is not significantlyincreased. For example, the keys may be three quarters the height of theother keys on the keyboard. This reduction in size of the function keysdoes not have a major impact of ease of typing for users because arrowkeys are not generally pressed using touch-typing.

[0021] In summary, by moving the rarely used Home and End keys out ofthe centrally located navigation section and placing them on thefunction key row, the Insert, Delete, Page Up, and Page Down keys can bearranged in a single column. The arrow keys are arranged in a nestedmanner such that the Up Arrow is at the bottom of said single columnwhile the Left, Down and Right Arrow are disposed in a row below thelowermost rows of the text entry section and the numeric keypad section.Applied to a keyboard with a standard set of keys of standard size, thewidth of the keyboard can be reduced from 455 mm to 405 mm. Furthermore,by reducing the height of the arrow keys to three quarters that of theother keys, the additional height of the keyboard is minimal.

[0022] While the invention has been described with reference to apreferred embodiment, the description is not intended to be construed ina limiting sense. The novelty of this invention lies in nesting thearrow keys below what would normally be the lowermost row a keyboard ofthe prior art. It is understood that the layout and content of the textentry section, function key section, navigation and numeric keypad cansection can be modified to meet the requirements a particular set ofkeys. It is not necessary, for example, that the Home and End keys bemoved to function key section; other keys could be moved to enable thenavigation section to be reduced to a single column. It is thereforecontemplated that the appended claims will cover any such modificationsor embodiments as may fall within the scope of the invention defined bythe following claims and their equivalents.

What is claimed is:
 1. A compact keyboard having at least a plurality ofalpha-numeric keys disposed in rows and an arrow key section, the arrowkey section comprising an Up Arrow, Down Arrow, Left Arrow and RightArrow keys disposed in an inverted T arrangement with a first of thearrow keys on the top and the remaining three arrow keys on the bottom,wherein the first arrow key is disposed in the lowermost row of theplurality of alpha-numeric keys and the remaining the arrow keys aredisposed below the lowermost row of the plurality of alpha-numeric keys.2. The compact keyboard of claim 1, wherein the arrow keys are reducedto three quarters the height of the plurality of alpha-numeric keys. 3.The compact keyboard of claim 1, wherein the first arrow key is the UpArrow key and the remaining three arrows keys are the Left Arrow, theDown Arrow, and the Right Arrow keys, disposed in that order.
 4. Thecompact keyboard of claim 1, wherein the plurality of alpha-numeric keysincludes a navigation section comprising Insert, Delete, Page Up, andPage Down keys disposed in single a column above the first arrow key. 5.The compact keyboard of claim 1, wherein the plurality of alpha-numerickeys includes a text entry section comprising an arrangement of rows ofkeys for the entry of text and numbers.
 6. The compact keyboard of claim1, wherein the plurality of alpha-numeric keys includes a numeric keypadentry section comprising an arrangement keys for the entry of numbers.7. The compact keyboard of claim 6, wherein the arrow key section isdisposed between the text entry section and the numeric keypad section.8. The compact keyboard of claim 1, further comprising a function keysection disposed above the topmost row of the plurality of alpha-numerickeys.
 9. The compact keyboard of claim 8, wherein the function keysection comprises a row of function keys and includes the Home key andEnd key.
 10. The compact keyboard of claim 8, wherein the function keysare reduced to three quarters the height of the plurality ofalpha-numeric keys.
 11. A compact keyboard comprising a text entrysection, a navigation section, a numeric keypad section, a function keysection, and an arrow key section, wherein the text entry sectioncomprises an arrangement of keys including five rows of alpha-numerickeys for the entry of text and numbers; the navigation section isdisposed adjacent to and between the text entry section and the numerickeypad section, the navigation section comprising Insert, Delete, PageUp, and Page Down keys disposed in a single column corresponding to therow one through four in the Text entry section; the numeric keypadsection comprises five rows of alpha-numeric keys for the entry ofnumbers; the function key section comprises a row of function keys andHome and End keys, the function key section being disposed above thetext entry section, navigation section, and numeric keypad section; andthe arrow key section comprises Up Arrow, Down Arrow, Left Arrow andRight Arrow keys disposed in an inverted T arrangement with the Up Arrowkey on the top and the Down Arrow, Left Arrow and Right Arrow keys onthe bottom, wherein the Up Arrow key occupies the fifth row of thenavigation section between the text entry section and the numeric keypadsection and the Down Arrow, Left Arrow and Right Arrow keys are disposedin a sixth row below the lowermost rows of the text entry section andthe numeric keypad section.
 12. The compact keyboard of claim 11,wherein the function key section further comprises indicators fordisplaying whether Num Lock, Caps Lock or Scroll Lock are activated. 13.The compact keyboard of claim 11, wherein the arrow keys are reduced tothree quarters the height of the other keys.
 14. The compact keyboard ofclaim 11, wherein the function keys are reduced to three quarters theheight of the other keys.
 15. The compact keyboard of claim 11, whereinthe navigation section is set off from the text entry section and thenumeric keyboard section by a small gap.